Genesis 21:6

21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. ¹  Everyone who hears about this ²  will laugh ³  with me.”

Genesis 21:12

21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset ⁴  about the boy or your slave wife. Do ⁵  all that Sarah is telling ⁶  you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. ⁷ 

Genesis 17:19

17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. ⁸  I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual ⁹  covenant for his descendants after him.

Genesis 22:2

22:2 God ¹⁰  said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac ¹¹  – and go to the land of Moriah! ¹²  Offer him up there as a burnt offering ¹³  on one of the mountains which I will indicate to ¹⁴  you.”

Joshua 24:3

24:3 but I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates ¹⁵  and brought him into ¹⁶  the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous; I gave him Isaac,

Matthew 1:2

1:2 Abraham was the father ¹⁷  of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

Acts 7:8

7:8 Then God ¹⁸  gave Abraham ¹⁹  the covenant ²⁰  of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old, ²¹  and Isaac became the father of ²²  Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. ²³ 

Romans 9:7

9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” ²⁴ 

Hebrews 11:18

11:18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” ²⁵ 

[21:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”

[21:6]  ² tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:6]  ³ sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).

[21:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”

[21:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.

[21:12]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.

[21:12]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.

[17:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).

[17:19]  ⁹ tn Or “as an eternal.”

[22:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ¹¹ sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.

[22:2]  ¹² sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.

[22:2]  ¹³ sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

[22:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “which I will say to.”

[24:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “through.”

[1:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “fathered.”

[7:8]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:8]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:8]  ²⁰ sn God gave…the covenant. Note how the covenant of promise came before Abraham’s entry into the land and before the building of the temple.

[7:8]  ²¹ tn Grk “circumcised him on the eighth day,” but many modern readers will not understand that this procedure was done on the eighth day after birth. The temporal clause “when he was eight days old” conveys this idea more clearly. See Gen 17:11-12.

[7:8]  ²² tn The words “became the father of” are not in the Greek text due to an ellipsis, but must be supplied for the English translation. The ellipsis picks up the verb from the previous clause describing how Abraham fathered Isaac.

[7:8]  ²³ sn The twelve patriarchs refers to the twelve sons of Jacob, the famous ancestors of the Jewish race (see Gen 35:23-26).

[9:7]  ²⁴ tn Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael.

[11:18]  ²⁵ tn Grk “in Isaac seed will be named for you.”